Through Christian Science, divine Science is applied to humanity and is capable of practical proof. It is not absolutely necessary to know how this Science operates in order to begin to have proof of its utility, but there must be an awakened faith that the Principle of good is in operation; there must be more faith in good than there is in evil. In the epistle to the Hebrews we read (11:6), "Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
Approaching Christian Science as an applied Science, a mother asked the help of a Christian Science practitioner. Her daughter was suffering from incipient tuberculosis, thought to be hereditary in the family. Since the condition had been diagnosed by the family physician as dangerous, both mother and daughter were living in extreme fear. They began to read the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, and found this statement (p.462): "Anatomy, when conceived of spiritually, is mental self-knowledge, and consists in the dissection of thoughts to discover their quality, quantity, and origin. Are thoughts divine or human? That is the important question. This branch of study is indispensable to the excision of error." And a little farther on Mrs. Eddy says: "The Christian Scientist, through understanding mental anatomy, discerns and deals with the real cause of disease. The material physician gropes among phenomena, which fluctuate every instant under influences not embraced in his diagnosis, and so he may stumble and fall in the darkness."
The quickening qualities of Spirit, God, became amazingly practical. These students began to claim understanding, strength, harmony, joy, and love on the basis that man is God's perfect reflection. The activity of these radiant elements of divine Love effected a mental change. The mother and daughter rejected negative qualities, such as fear, self-pity, impatience, criticism, apathy, and the like, of which the disease was but a phenomenon. It is in proportion to such rejection that we are improved physically, mentally, and spiritually. The patient soon began to improve and is now strong and vigorously healthy.
